The action-adventure third-person shooter video game “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” has been confirmed to use real-time cutscenes and level-up animation, due largely to the latest hardware feature of Sony’s next-generation gaming console, the PlayStation 4.
The confirmation came from Anthony Newman, the co-lead game designer of “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” for developer Naughty Dog during a recent video of “Conversations with Creators and Wil Wheaton” released by PlayStation Store on July 14.
“Conversations” presents a round-table discussion on the creation of “The Last of Us” and the soon-to-be released “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” exclusively on the PlayStation 4. Those who participated in the dialogue with Newman were Evan Wells, co-president of Naughty Dog, Neil Druckmann, creative director, and Bruce Straley, the game director. During the talk, Naughty Dog credited the PlayStation 4 for the latest graphics that they are able to use for their upcoming game.
Newman explained that the new hardware gave them the opportunity to create unique features for “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.” PS4 provided the game development team the power to implement richer visuals compared to what they were able to create in their horror video game “The Last of Us.”
While creating “The Last of Us,” Newman said they pushed the PlayStation 3’s limit so they can have more open environments for the game. He said that it would allow the players of the game to have more freedom and more options while exploring each level of the game. For “Uncharted 4,” developers were able to produce better features for the lead character, Nathan Drake, which includes remarkable stuff, navigation, and moves. However, the developers are continuously exploring other possibilities with the help of PS4’s most recent memory capacity upgrade.
One of those level-up graphics is the inclusion of real-time cutscenes. These scenes pertain to clips that continue the flow of the game story and are usually being shown upon completion of a specific level and also when the player’s character die or receives a “game over” message during gameplay. Naughty Dog attributed the PS4 hardware for the success of creating those cutscenes. They are super excited about the fidelity of the characters that they have been going crazy since it would be a new accomplishment for them.
According to the designer, there will be no more black bars that are usually seen while having a transition between the game itself and the cutscenes. These flawless transitions will allow the developers to become more expressive and get a seamless shift from storytelling and creating the actual game. They also believe that they have done it already in the past, but the PS4’s new hardware will further take them to the next level.
Moreover, the character’s look in the cutscenes will not change in the gameplay. Nathan Drake will still have that great looks since the lighting model is nearly identical. Now, it becomes possible to have a smooth transition of the character’s emotions from cutscenes to gameplay and this will be integrated with the game all the time.
Before PS4, the only aim of the developers is to have a cinema-like graphics for “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.” Nevertheless, the latest output was able to present Drake’s detailed character complete with chest hair, stubble, and even the sweat on his forehead. In addition, Naughty Dog was able to integrate 850 facial animations for the character due to PS4’s technical prowess. Compared to the last installment, “Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception,” they were able to implement only 120 facial animations using PlayStation 3.