While they may not be connected in any way, A Plague Tale: Innocence and Dead Rising share a similarity - they both pushed on-screen enemies to the absolute limit.
A Plague Tale: Innocence doesn't have a release date yet, but the Medieval survival tale is already looking like a gripping and emotional rollercoaster through its reveal trailer alone. Our own TJ Denzer recently scuttled across the E3 showfloor to talk technicalities with the studio hard at work on this rat-infested world.
If you haven't guessed already, A Plague Tale: Innocence is loosely connected to the Black Death that culled a large part of Europe in the 1300s. With rats and/or their fleas being blamed for the rapid spread of the Bubonic Plague, TJ learned that one of the toughest obstacles for the team thus far has been managing how many rats would snap at your ankles through the game.
Think Of Yourself As A Rat Fan? You Can Read The Full Interview Over Here
"we wanted to push the swarm as far as we could" said David Dedeine, Creative Director of the upcoming title. "One of the challenges has been in pushing the limits in visual threat, but also keeping a level of animation that made it look like there is organic movement and life to them...That animation and behaviour combined with keeping the framerate consistent makes the development of the rats very complex."
Essentially, it all comes down to how the rats affect the overall gameplay. If 2000 rats would mean cutting the framerate from 30 to 15, that probably isn't a worthwhile trade. Finding a balance between that realistic, atmospheric threat is key.
