Callisto Protocol’s PS4 graphics were compared to Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us series as its developers wanted to “punch above [their] weight” on the next-gen console.
The Callisto Protocol was “built for current generation consoles” as the ps5according to striking distance studies CTO Mark James, but the game is set for a last generation ps4 release too. While the developers acknowledge that means “no ray tracing” for the latest generation, it seems Callisto Protocol will continue to look graphically impressive on PS4 thanks to comparisons to Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us..
Callisto Protocol PS4 graphics compared to The Last of Us
Talking to James on Gamescom 2022we started talking about the design of the game and how the team initially went out of their way to distance the game from comparisons to ‘dead space 4.’ Although when it came to The last of usand in particular the tremendous graphic prowess of the series that naughty dog could eek on the PS4, it seems the developers were less averse to the idea.
“No ray tracing for the next generation – let’s go back to the old techniques,” James told us, when asked how the PS5 version of The Callisto Protocol would be scaled down to PS4. “You will see a reduction in quality, but yeah, we do compare it to some of the hit titles of the last generation, like The Last of Us and things like that. We also punch our weight in those areas, because if you start from a really good capture source , you can always scroll down to see how you render it.”
Given the context and aspect of the Protocol of Callisto, we assume that James is talking about one of the best ps4 games, the last of us part 2here, unlike the ported ps3 graphics of the last of us remastered. That said, we can’t really confirm, so we’ll have to wait until The Callisto Protocol is released to find out which end of Naughty Dog’s PS4 era James was referring to.
Regarding that “really good capture source,” James elaborated, “We’ve got some of the most compelling characters in the industry and I stick with the way we do it. That starts with capturing the actors first in a way that makes it very easy to have that physical information about light interaction to be represented in the game. You have to start investing there, just in the capture technologies, before you even try to figure out how you’re going to render those guys. In the game.
“So we started by just taking a physical 360 of Josh [Duhamel, star of the game alongside The Boys’ Karen Fukuhara] — we use this technology that is used a lot in a movie called OLAT (this stands for One Light at a Time). We light the face and then try to physically represent that shot in our render. And then every day we added a little bit more quality until our render lead would send both shots and get people to guess which one was the real thing.”
James explains how this translates best to PS4 graphics by recalling how he compared the design sound ps5 to ray tracing: “It’s the same way we handle 3D audio – if I start capturing audio that way, I can always simplify it a bit in the way that it’s representative when your audio system doesn’t sound bad, but I have that database that ensures that the details that I’ve added in that area are much richer.” On that note, if you have the kind of cutting-edge-level actor performance that Naughty Dog uses, you’re likely to get Naughty Dog-level character renderings even when you scale back to PS4.
It’s good news that PS4 gamers can’t just keep up The Callisto Protocol trophy listmark yours trophy list, and do it all with a quality that aims to meet Naughty Dog standards. Let us know what your thoughts are on the above, and don’t forget to read about how The environmental dangers of the Callisto Protocol will bring your mind back to that time you damned yourself in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
