Dying Light producer Tymon Smektala has confirmed there will be no differences from a gameplay perspective between the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 versions of the upcoming zombie title.
Speaking during a chinwag with GamingBolt, Smektala confirmed however that gamers can expect increased visual effects with the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the action-RPG title.
“In terms of the core gameplay, there will be no significant differences. Very early in the production process we’ve decided that we want the game to play exactly the same on all platforms, so we’ve created a new version of our in-house Chrome Engine technology to support that goal. That’s why all Dying Light elements that relate to the core gameplay – be it the enemy AI or the number of zombies on screen – stay the same, whether it’s current-gen or next-gen. On the other hand, we also wanted to use the extreme processing power of PS4, Xbox One and PC, so these versions use all advancements in the field of graphical fidelity, including our very advanced physically based lighting model.
“For regular gamers it might sound like a technical mumbo-jumbo, but it’s something they should really be excited about: thanks to the new lighting model, the whole game world looks extra realistic and instantly gets +10 to immersion. Of course, we’re also using some of the more specific next-gen features, like lightbar and touchpad support or voice recognition, the latter being tied to our in-game noise system (you can draw zombies’ attention just by screaming at them).”
Elsewhere, Senior Engine Programmer, Tomasz Szalkowski, had nothing but praise for Sony’s latest home console.
"PS4 is a truly fantastic piece of hardware! Its high GPU performance comes from the API, which allows a strict control over all processes, and facilitates optimization and experimentation. Obviously, with greater control comes greater responsibility, for example for correct synchronization between processing units.
"A modern GPU, an adequate API and a unified GPU/CPU address space let us develop new algorithms and techniques that simply weren’t possible before: a ShaderModel5 hardware working with DX11 was limited in terms of capabilities comparing to how the hardware actually could perform, and many things were beyond control. Now the GPU alone is fast enough to not only render high quality visuals at 1080p, but it can also take on some task of the main processor. The first presentation of Dying Light for PS4 is just the taste of what the Chrome Engine 6 can do on this console!"
Dying Light is scheduled to ship for PS4, PS3, PC, Xbox One and Xbox 360 in 2014.