As we’re just one week away from the launch of inFamous: Second Son on March 21st, copies of the game have been making their way to customers already, leading to people posting opinions, screenshots, and videos of the game.
Taking to their Facebook page, Sucker Punch posted this message, talking about how they’re disappointed by these early leaks:
Everyone here at Sucker Punch is extremely excited about inFAMOUS Second Son hitting stores on Friday, March 21st, but we’re a little disappointed that people are releasing unauthorized footage of the game online before it officially launches. We’ve all worked really hard over the last two years to not let any spoilers slip. We want to keep some of the most enjoyable moments of the game a secret for fans to experience first-hand when the game comes out. We think the game is a lot more fun to play when you don’t know what’s coming next–when you experience the thrill of an unexpected twist in the plot, or get to enjoy a new super power you’d never dreamed of.
We really appreciate how excited everyone is to actually play the game, and we’re just as excited for you, because we think Second Son is awesome and we think you’re going to love it. So please, we kindly ask that you join us in helping ensure everyone gets to experience the game for themselves on launch day. We’d really appreciate you refraining from forwarding links around, and please, please, please don’t post spoiler footage if you have an unauthorized early copy.
In other inFamous: Second Son news, Tech Art Lead Jason Connell took part in a Q&A yesterday, where he offered up an answer to someone who thought the game’s visuals had been downgraded since E3:
Definitely no visual downgrade of graphics since then! We put that particular area in sunset instead of sunny time of day so that it matches the mood of narrative better.
There were also a few more interesting pieces of information that Connell talked about, which we’ve placed below in a Q&A format:
Are the cutscenes pre-rendered or is everything done in-game?
VERY FEW are pre-rendered cutscenes. Everything is live and in the engine real time in MOST of the cutscenes you’ll see.
What’s the difference between the lighting of powers in cutscenes and the lighting of powers in actual gameplay?
Virtually no difference. One is controlled by the player (by pressing the right buttons…) and one is controlled by how we script the FX into the cinematic. Same FX system and same lighting though.
What was your favorite random little detail from the city to make?
Wet streaks on the sides of buildings. The puddles and reflections are also great.
Which power pushes the effects to the limit?
Orbital Drop is a pretty intense effect.
Does Delsin’s jacket change with Karma?
It does change with Karma.
Will the light from the city shine up in the sky at night like a real city?
Funny you mention that… at night, this is what we call ‘light pollution’. During the night time, in large cities… you will see the clouds turn an average light color from the city below. Especially in cities like Seattle… where we have extremely low cloud decks. I tried to put that into the games night time.
What are you most proud of in inFamous: Second Son?
The time of days, the overall rendering/look of the game.
How does the lighting work in the dark when Delsin shoots neon?
Our FX engine allows for randomization of light brightness… it will look a bit different every time.
What was your favorite landmark you put in the game?
I’m not the artist who put it in… but we have a huge Sub Pop sign in the game. Also… the Space Needle!
One more lighting question. Is there going to be any kind of “lens flare” when the sun is setting or rising?
Lens flares are tricky! Its easy to put in, and its even easier to do TOO much lens flare. We’ve done more of a lens effect on the screen rather than huge lens flares from the sun.
Do the considerable amount of effects, particles, etc. cause slowdown on the game at all?
As game developers, its always a challenge to figure out where you should spend your performance on. We decided to spend it largely on FX and Lighting.
I noticed in a recent stream that the black levels were overly dark at night time and made the neon really stand out. How will daytime light affect this?
Well, when we moved to HDR and Physical Based Lighting… one of the benefits is having the world rendering look and feel like a cameras exposure. So, we just have to make sure that things look good in all time of days… but the system supports it fully.
Between this and the other inFamous games, how much would you say this has come far from others?
Visually it’s been a leaps and bounds difference. We are proud of the look we’ve achieved.
What do you feel was the greatest asset of the PS4 in making the game as good looking as it does?
Power. Seriously… without getting too techy… it’s just much more powerful. More lights, more reflections, more particles, lights in particles… really great stuff.
How was the transition from PS3 to PS4 for Sucker Punch Productions?
The transition was a lot of fun for the rendering and art team. We changed how we were doing materials, lighting and particles. All of which ended up aiding in the final look of the game.
How many particles are rendered during the orbital drop? Cause it looks like a lot.
The rain alone was 25,000! I’m not sure exactly but it’s a LOT for that particular power!
Which render feature in the game are you the most proud of, and what are some of the challenges related to developing that specific feature?
Personally I think it was our transition to physical based lighting. The most challenging part of moving to physical based lighting was establishing all of the rules of which an artist has to go by… and THEN figuring out how to break them artistically to get the exact look you want.
What game engine did you base Second Son on?
Sucker Punch has created their own proprietary engine. We’ve used it for all our games including this one. Although we’ve done a major upgrade to the visuals to take advantage of PS4.
What weather effects will be featured in the game?
Rain is a huge part of Seattle, so it will be most prominently featured. Light rain and a heavier rain. There will also be a lot of post-rain sunsets as well.
I know you used reference shots from Seattle for some of the landmarks, but did you also do it with the weather and lighting?
Actually, this is a great question. The lighting team spent a lot of time researching how bright it is outside during different times of day. We call this physical based lighting. This was done heavily in the pre-production part of the project.
Are you going to avoid all the inFamous: Second Son spoilers out there, or will you give in and take a look? Let us know in the comments below.
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