Things Developers Need To Get Right Next Generation Before 1080p

6 Things Developers Need To Get Right for Next Gen Games BEFORE Tackling 1080p

There has been a lot of talk over the last few months regarding the next generation of consoles coming after the PS3 and Xbox 360.  Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 have been out quite some time now, so it is inevitable that both Sony and Microsoft will at the very least have hardware designs on the table. With this kind of potential for the release of next gen hardware around the corner, there is talk about what standards should be met as a baseline by gamers and developers.

The first thing you often hear people mention is a 1080p, 60fps standard. While this is most likely going to be the general target for games for the next generation, there are many areas that can have a greater impact to the overall visual immersive potential of a game.


1) Much Better AA

While there has been a lot of focus on resolution standards of 720p and in some cases 1080p, console games this generation have often struggled with nasty aliased edges. (Halo series or Infamous anyone?) While higher resolution obviously contributes to cleaner edges, it also should be paired with good AA. Why can a standard def DVD movie with far less resolution than these games not have these harsh edges and yet have great detail ? It’s not just about resolution. Just bumping up the resolution still isn’t going to solve this alone. If developers couldn't get decent AA happening at a platry 720p or lower as standard on current generation hardware, do we want a jump to 1080p so they might have the same issues next generation?


2) Higher Resolution Textures

What good is 1080p if they have blocky textures that can’t come close to supporting the resolution? This still is a challenge for a lot of games at just 720p with no AA this late in the console cycle. Get slightly closer to a wall or vegetation, and the textures often become horribly pixelated.  Some of the best looking games have some seriously pixelated textures in some areas. Sure they have some great looking areas as well, but you will find areas that look like a PS2.5 game texture wise.


3) No More Blocky Shadows

You’re playing a great looking game with even some great lighting, and then bam! You’re taken out of the moment with just horrible looking blocky shadows. Even award winning visuals coming out of games like Uncharted have been affected by this. Get this right before you even start to tackle 1080p please. ;)


4) More Variation

There have been some great games this gen, but most of them have had a serious case of copy and paste level design and texture work. Gears of War and Mass Effect series, I’m looking at you. To make levels and worlds more believable, let’s not have the same boring crate copied and pasted everywhere. With more memory and bandwidth, I want developers to make each area and turn around the corner to feel more unique and different. It doesn't’t have to be drastically different, but just different enough to give more convincing worlds to it’s gamers. They also should work on having more variation in characters, cars, and so on. I don’t want to see the same 6 cars over and over again in a city like in Infamous or the same 6-7 characters in the Fable series with the same 5-6 voices. But how can developers possibly do this with already insane time limits and deadlines? Read on to our next point...


5) Better Middleware for Streamlining Asset Development

Developers are going to have to develop better middleware to speed up content creation. They will need to create software that can add some more dynamic ways of creating content. There already are some developers working on this kind of thing, but we should expect to see more middleware focusing on this kind of content creation.


6) Better Draw Distances and No Pop Up

While the human eye has limits to the detail it can see from afar in real life, the draw distance limits on some games takes away some of the sense of an open, detailed world. Games will often have a limited draw distance for vegetation, ground detail. Anything beyond a certain distance (often pretty short distances) will be rendered at a way lower quality that is often more smeary and lacking in detail.

It's All About Balance

While 1080p does offer a great resolution for gaming, I certainly hope that it's not going to be at the expense of some of these other areas that IMO need attention to bring a truly next generation experience on consoles. If Sony or Microsoft put less financial resources into hardware development compared to last gen and demand a 1080p 60fps standard, there might actually not be that big of a jump immersion wise to the visuals of games. I personally would rather see some of the launch titles nail 720p, 60fps with 8xaa, more detailed/high res textures throughout, beautiful shadows, insane draw distances, and offer a less copy and paste approach to level design.

I think game design all comes down to compromises and balance. Putting a standard on one spec at the potential expense of some of these other areas might make sense for some games, but can be totally detrimental for other game experiences. Considering most if not all console developers haven't mastered 720p without some real drops in at least a few of these areas, let's get some of this other stuff right first. Or should Gran Turismo 6 on the PS4 target the new 4K standard and still have 2D trees. ;)