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Black Flag Title Update Brings 1080p HD To PS4 Version

John-Shepard 13 Comments

More 1080p goodness for the PlayStation 4.

According to a new post at the Ubisoft blog , PS4 owners will appreciate an upcoming title update for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag . It will allow the game to support full 1080p high-definition resolution.

Right now, the game currently runs at 900p so "some players might not even be able to tell the difference." However, if you're a tech buff and you can be anal about such things, you might spot subtle upgrades like the game being a "tiny bit smoother." Black Flag originally shipped at only 900p so they would ensure a nice, steady frame rate of 30FPS. The team then used the time between the ship date and the release to focus on this title update, which would max out the HD resolution on the PS4.

They make no mention of a title update for the Xbox One version, but don't be surprised if it doesn't get 1080p. A lot of Xbox One games seem to be sub-1080p right now…

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Ubisoft: ACIV Development Much Easier On Next-Gen Consoles

John-Shepard 38 Comments

Think it's harder to develop games for the fancy new consoles, as compared to the current systems? Ubisoft says flatly, "nope."

While one might assume that it'd be relatively easy to develop a game for consoles that have been around for six and seven years, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag game director Ashraf Ismail told eager Reddit questioners that in fact, developing the latest AC installment on the PS3 and 360 was "very difficult and even nightmarish."

On the flip side, creating the game for the PS4 and Xbox One was all smooth sailing (pun intended). This was primarily because the new consoles are "very similar to PCs," which resulted in this:

"Best game development experience of my career. Team was great, production was the smoothest I've ever seen, no one got burned doing overtime and super proud of the result! Its been absolutely wonderful. 2.5 years to make a game is perfect! Longer than 3 years can start wearing a person down."

Ismail added that there were a few hurdles because Sony and Microsoft weren't 100% certain about the requirements for the new consoles. "They were trying to figure them out themselves," Ismail said. But that's to be expected with new hardware and beyond that, the development process was "super smooth." Well, that's great news because Black Flag turned out really well on the PS3…now I'm salivating to get into the PS4 version!

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The Massive Effort That Was Black Flag Required 900 People

John-Shepard 5 Comments

Gigantic AAA video game productions require a huge amount of resources.

Ubisoft's anticipated sequel, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag , is a perfect example. According to what director Ashraf Ismail told Examiner , over 900 people were involved in the making of the game. He was answering the question as to whether or not Ubisoft would consider creating an all-encompassing MMO-type Assassin's Creed that featured numerous big worlds:

"From a pure production standpoint, it would be very, very difficult to do something like that. On this game, we've had over 900 people working on it. With the Assassin's Creed machine and being the game director, even I am sometimes amazed. It takes 900 people to create the content for this game, so to try to do multiple worlds that are all big and fleshed out with unique characters in them, I'm not sure it would bring that much to the player."

Eight Ubisoft teams assisted with the blockbuster title (Montreal, Singapore, Sofia, Annecy, Kiev, Quebec, Bucharest and Montpelier), so there was no shortage of people or resources. However, Ismail said they really don't see themselves doing anything like one cohesive game that includes multiple worlds. But Ismail says there is another possibility:

"So I don't see us ever doing that where we have multiple, big worlds. I do see this idea where you are playing in different mini-worlds and you are playing as different assassins, but I don't think you'll ever see America with Connor, Ezio in Italy, and the Caribbean with Edward in one game. I don't think it makes sense for us to do."

After the unfortunate Watch Dogs delay , Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag stands alone as Ubisoft's prime holiday competitor. It's slated to launch worldwide on October 29 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U, while the PS4, Xbox One and PC versions are set for next month.

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Assassin’s Creed IV DLC Detailed, Season Pass Confirmed

Ben-Dutka 6 Comments

If you're all in for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag , you'll want to consider picking up the Season Pass.

Ubisoft has announced the downloadable content lineup for the upcoming game, and they also revealed that Black Flag will have a Season Pass. No real surprise there.

The DLC will be available for all platforms (PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC), although no mention was made of the Wii U. The primary portion of DLC will focus on the nine-mission single-player storyline called Freedom Cry. This takes place 15 years after the events of the main campaign, and players will assume the role of Edward Kenway's first mate, Adewale. At that point, he has become a fully trained assassin, but he finds himself shipwrecked in Saint-Domingue with no weapons and no crew. Later DLC will provide more single-player missions, weapons, skins and collectibles, along with new characters for the multiplayer modes, if you're interested.

The Season Pass will give you access to the Kraken Ship Pack as well, which gives you more customization options for Kenway's ship. Remember that this content will not be available to purchase separately. All of Black Flag 's DLC will be released before March 2014 and the Season Pass will be ready to go at launch. Ubisoft didn't give us an exact price, but they said it would be 20 percent less than if you bought each expansion pack individually. Those savings sound pretty standard.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag will be ready to go on current-gen consoles and PC on October 29, and it'll be a launch game for the PS4 and Xbox One. You're getting the next-gen iteration, right?

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Next-Gen Upgrades For Black Flag Include Dynamic Foliage

Ben-Dutka 5 Comments

Just how advanced are the next-gen versions of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag ?

Even the freakin' leaves have physics. That's right.

With better hardware comes more technical capability, and Ubisoft is taking advantage of the extra power for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One installments of the new Assassin's Creed .

As outlined in a new next-gen walkthrough, we learn that if we look closely enough, we'll see all sorts of fresh, dynamic details. For example, director Ashraf Ismail told GameSpot that even the plants and leaves will react to weather systems and player interaction.

That's hardly the only achievement, but Ismail added that most of them will unfortunately go "unnoticed" by players:

"I guarantee 99.9 percent of the people won't even notice, but there's going to be a few people that pick up on certain details and it's this stuff that I think will show that we truly love this experience."

They've even implemented a specific "sea engine" that looks to replicate the genuine movements of actual waves and ocean colors. Ismail said they wanted this title to become the "most immersive Assassin's Creed yet," and features like the new weather system (that includes independently lit rain drops) and volumetric fog will help that happen.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is set to hit store shelves on October 29 for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and it'll be a launch title for the PS4 and Xbox One.