Ben-DutkaAssassin's Creed has always been an atmospheric tour de force. But Ubisoft is taking things to the next level with Unity .
Speaking to Major Nelson Radio about the latest and greatest AC adventure, creative director Alex Amancio said they used "every ounce of power" from both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
He then went into some detail concerning the technical leaps on display in Unity . For instance, the number of simultaneous on-screen non-player characters has dramatically increased from about 200 to over 5,000. Also, don't forget that you'll actually be able to interact with every last NPC you see. Furthermore, there is no loading within the game, which means you can seamlessly travel about without any interruption.
Perhaps one of the most drastic upgrades will be the fact that one in every four buildings will have a fully detailed interior with new characters and missions. Typically, you can only enter a scant few buildings in the Assassin's Creed universe, so this is a significant advancement. Lastly and as you might expect, the designers are implementing superior lighting and shading, which will translate to a "completely new layer of realism."
We've seen examples of what the new systems can do; perhaps Assassin's Creed Unity will be the very first title that actually feels "next-gen."
If they used "every ounce of power" on the PS4, then perhaps their developers aren't as good as other game companies?
I've been watching a lot of Unity streams, and there are lots of instances of framerate drops.
It's a bit worrisome, but I'm still getting this game, regardless. I'm sure, they'll optimize it and patch the framerate issue soon.
I was wondering the same thing actually since everybody is aware of the PS4's advantages.
Regardless…
1 in 4 buildings has interiors with characters and missions… lets stop and think about for that in second. Wow.
Uncharted 4 will be the first game that will truly use every ounce of power from the PS4.. ^_^
You know, any time I hear a company fellate themselves about how great of a job they've done at using up all the power of a new system I immediately put that game on my pass list.
It seems like over hyped sensationalism in the most blatant form. The systems have been out a year and I'm sure there are little tricks and optimization improvements that can be done to squeeze out a little bit more that haven't been thought of or implemented yet.
Just once I'd like to read a story about a developer saying "I think we did a great job on this. We worked hard to make it as good looking and optimised as possible and we hope it comes through". Simple, honest, not over inflated. I would respect that a million times more than hearing "We're the best, this is the best, it will never be better because we used all the resources."
Also, isn't this running below 1080p and at less than 60fps? Doesn't seem like all the power then.
Okay let's stop this right now. These developers seriously need to elaborate more on what they are saying. This has been going on to long and at the end of the day most of the games these devs create still are not anywhere near as complete and refined as Sonys first party studios.
I'm going to go out on a limb here for Ubisofts sake and say they are saying something different than we are interpreting. When developers say this they may very well be using the full power to some extent. That extent in AC is to create huge open world's with a lot of interactivity involved. It probably does take a ton of the systems power to process all of that.
On the other side a game like Uncharted will benefit more from realism and just outright more quality in terms of graphics. Because the scale is smaller in terms of world size.
But the problem with these statements is you can't create a game like AC, then have hiccups. The systems may very well allow the developer to create it but if it runs like crap it probably doesn't matter. Your statements become flawed in the eyes of the consumer, media and so on, When compared to games that look and run better. More so when other games run at 1080p and 60fps.
Just stop saying you are maximizing the potential of the systems already.
Let me also be clear I'm not saying Unity has hiccups or will run like crap. I'm just trying to make a point that at some point another game will look and run better. That may or may not have used the full power of the consoles.
Last edited by bigrailer19 on 11/10/2014 3:10:41 PM
I agree, BR, but there arent many games that run on 1080 and 60 that also run on current gen engines. Neither exclusive from MS(technically Forza 5 does it but they cut alot of corners) or Sony has hit that mark and since The Order and Bloodborne are running at 30 in very linear and enclosed city street environments, one has to wonder if 1080p/60 will ever be "the norm" in the forseeable future. Even COD technically didnt hit it with framerate drop on PS4 native 1080 and sub 1080 for the X1. The truth is the power of these systems were blown way out of proportion. People thought they were buying a friggin supercomputer for 400 bucks..
Yeah I Totally agree. And I'm actually fond of steady 30fps. I was just trying to point out that the Consoles are capable of it – depending on the developer, and game – so to say you utilized "every ounce of power" is misleading to some. That's why I mentioned it's important to elaborate on what they really mean. Some people take it literally, but question why they didn't hit those hd ceilings and so forth.
I totally agree with both Coverton and Bigrailer.
However, I just wanted to clarify that I don't think Ubisoft has maximized the potential of either PS4 or XB1. I don't want anyone to interpret my comment above in thinking that they didn't max the PS4, but maxed XB1 on Unity… that's NOT what I'm saying.
Its got everything a ext gen game needs.
No screen tears –
Stable framerate –
no bugs –
no glitches –
http://i.imgur.com/hxK4NQY.gif
I know I said I was going to pass on this game til it got cheaper, but I gave in to preordering.
I'm a tad annoyed that it's not running at 1080p, although I'm perfectly fine with 30fps. It would be nice if they would eventually patch the PS4 version's resolution like they did with Black Flag.
On a side note, damn the games industry for not releasing anything noteworthy for 3/4 of the year and then stuffing everything into the same couple months. My poor wallet.
The more they brag about it, the less I believe it will deliver.
well yes we know its a big jump up but i don't think they are doing a crap job of using the power even if they are using all of it or so they say so that it runs like crap from what i've heard
happy gaming