inFamous Second Son's Director Explains Why The Game Runs At 30fps

TSA spoke to inFamous Second Son’s director recently, and in the interview he explained exactly why Sucker Punch have chosen to make the game run at a frame rate of 30 frames per second with a 1080p resolution, rather than aiming for 60fps.

[HighResHero]

I think the game looks really smooth and I agree with him that the possibility of having to give up some of those particle effects would have been a bummer.

[ArchangelMike]

Definately. The game looks as smooth as melted butter, doesn't need to be 60fps either, it's not a twitch FPS after all. 9 days and counting...

[TomShoe]

Agreed. Story based single player games really don't need 60 FPS. It's nice to have, but I'd trade that for some amazing particle effects any day.

[GarrusVakarian]

This is one game where i can say that i would take the eye candy > 60fps (if i had to choose, due to console limitations). I don't think the necessity of 60fps applies to this game as much as it would for other genres. I would prefer 60fps AND bells and whistles, but alas, we can only have one or the other.

I'm normally someone who would be willing to take a hit in resolution for a better framerate, but i think this game would benefit more from having all those great visual effects at 30fps than it would having scaled down effects at 60fps.

" particle effects and the amount of NPCs "

Good job they went with 30fps then, i would not have wanted less particle effects and less NPC's just for a smoother framerate. Not in this game.

[Boody-Bandit]

This is my most anticipated title this year, bar none.

I just hope it runs smooth and the camera pans great. I have high hopes for this game. I was a huge fan of the previous versions. Just 10 more days. I can't wait!

[DaGR8JIBRALTAR]

gotta love that 1080p tho! (please rate from 1 to 10..still working on my stealth trolling)

[cyclindk]

I disagree, I think it is closer to a lukewarm stick of butter, not quite liquid, but certainly smooth and soft to the touch. Something low fat, but with all the savory flavor of the real thing.

[mediate-this]

Fps is not just for twitchy shooters as you like to call them, you need it for smooth gameplay, for fighting games, higher frame rate is good for any game.

[webeblazing]

Its funny cause a lot of people stated this before but now we agree. I wonder why? Even when it comes to last gen games the just scale things down.

[Sevir]

Higher framerates is good for every game, so it would be nice to be 60fps with all the bells and whistles and graphics shown already.

But this is a first gen PS4 game releasing just 4 months after launch, development first started on a PC that was much more powerful than a PS4 then scaled back when devours began rolling in in different phases, they've learnt plenty and I'm sure the second PS4 title from them will be pushing the boundaries by exponential measures.

This is at its core an Infamous game though and Infamous has always been fluid, smooth and fun to play, they had some of the smoothest gameplay around on PS3 and that never dipped below 30fps even with plenty on the screen.

I can't wait! Second Son is gonna be epic... Reviews for this go up on Wednesday next week... :)

[mewhy32]

Like most PS4 games this 'True' exclusive will be running in 1080p. It's going to be beautiful!!! What I've already seen makes it the best eye candy offered up by any console game thus far. This is going to be a real next gen experience. Not having to worry about parity for lesser consoles really sets the devs free to achieve the best that the hardware can offer. Looks to be great.

[BABY-JEDI]

I personally believe that this game will have all the buttery taste & goodness that any gamer would require
; D
Day one on my sandwiches

[Bigpappy]

No, no, no. You guys said it has to be 1080p/60fps to be a next gen game. Now you are saying it don't need to be 60fps.

Does that mean I can you will now go back and remove those disagree you gave me when I said as much.

[miyamoto]

My 1080p Samsung is ready to rock steady for Second Son at 120Hz Smoothing Effect- which means I am gonna have "60FPS"-ish graphics as I play! Whoo hoo!

inFamous Second Son is PS4's golden child.

So 30FPS is never a problem with me thanks to Samsung HDTV.

PS
Speaking of 1080p the latest firmware enabled my PS3 to run on native 1080p not 1080i. Better late than never, Sony.

@Lucas
I have played many stable 30fps games like the Uncharted series using the 120Hz refresh rate and the graphics frame rate is buttery smooth. Imagine 240Hz!
Not to diss on LG or Sony but Samsung makes better TV technology than most these days.

[GarrusVakarian]

Ewww, those "smooth-effect" settings are horrible, imo. I played GTA5 on my friends TV which has it and it wasn't very pleasant. I don't think it looks or feels like real 60fps at all.

But to each their own, 9 more days!

[I_am_Batman]

It really depends which method is being used. I was sceptical myself until I tried it. The motionflow on my Bravia is really good and actually really gaming friendly. Thoses features get better and better. I used it on Uncharted 2 and the added input lag wasn't really noticable at all. It made the game look so much better though.

I wouldn't use it in an online game though cause the input lag would add to the ping and you would be at a disadvantage.

[MRMagoo123]

the smoothing effects are the equivalent to the xbone running games at 1080p upscaled which = fake and not as good as the real thing, not even close, i agree with pretty much everyone turn them off itll be better.

[Vitalogy]

@Lukas well I got to say that Uncharted 3 looked from outter world when I played it on my PlayStation 24'' 3D Display which is FullHD with 240Hz refresh rate, I even made an extra walkthrough on 3D that blew my mind.

[DOMination-]

Lol, 3D

[Boody-Bandit]

Any filter engine turned on increases input lag. When I game I have every filter off and the display in game mode. If you're not going to play online at all than yeah input lag doesn't really matter. But even if you're going to play head to head you really should disable ALL filtering features.

Currently the best big display on the market is the Sony 55w802a or 55w900a. Both of these displays has the fastest input lag of any big display on the market bar none. I just picked one up and it's almost as fast as my PC monitor for gaming. Although it looks a hell of a lot nice than my PC monitor color saturation and contrast wise.

[Articuno76]

I think part of it is down to framerate stability. Those filters tend to smooth out frames nicely but they also enhance and magnify fluctuations.

[DeadMansHand]

Hey bro, I have a Sammy 1080 tv as well. Turn OFF all the smoothing and enhancements. They make the games look bad. There is a great thread on GAF about what settings you should use for maximum visuals. I'm on my phone so too tricky to track it down maybe Gribble is around and he can post it. Seriously, all the effects look crappy.

[WeedyOne]

Your wrong about games looking worse with the tv enhancements. What gamer's don't like about these enhancements is input lag.

I keep the settings off on my 3D Samsung but not because they look bad, it just adds A LOT of input lag. In fact when all the bells and whistles are turned on games look amazing!

Its cool when you are moving fast and can still see every single detail without any blur, unfortunately it adds so much input lag that it makes most games basically unplayable (to me at least, i'm VERY sensitive to input lag).

[CYCLEGAMER]

I totally agree with WeedyOne, I keep trying to tell people this but get blasted for it everytime, and I don't know why. The enhancements on my 240Hz tv make the games look better and run very smooth. Not quite 60fps smooth, but close to it. I only have a problem with it when I am playing competitive multiplayer, because it causes a little bit of input lag.

[NeoTribe]

Your tvs smoothing effect is a gimmick. Doesnt work. You got jipped.

[Oh_Yeah]

That controller input lag. Have fun with that.

[mediate-this]

@ miyamoto

Id say lg and samsung are top two, i have a 60 inch and 65 inch lg and samsung both smart 3d tvs and the ssung being the ultra hd, with ge mode on looks super nice.

[Oh_Yeah]

I'd say Sharp is #1...50 inch led tv for 500$? Can't beat it. Looks just as good as my 40 inch samsung 6300 I got for 700 and it doesn't make an annoying buzz sound that samsung tvs are plagued with, the sharp doesn't have motion interpoloation and smart tv like the Samsung but honestly it just makes movies look like soap operas and pc/ps4 take care of the smarts. I feel kind of ripped off for what I paid for that samsung earlier this year when I could of had 2 of them sharps instead of one. Sharp is gonna lead next gen screen tech with igzo. Peep them screens out.

[PR_FROM_OHIO]

That's funny bc my LG 55in LED 3D tv has a refresh rate of 240HZ and I've been gaming on it for about a year already lol!! Oh by the way PS4 games look stunning on it

[CYCLEGAMER]

@Miyamoto

You can tell people that your tv makes your 30fps games feel like they are running close to 60fps until you are blue in the face, but they will never believe/understand because they don't own such a tv. I own a 240Hz samsung and the tv definitely appears to enhance the framerate, the cost is input lag, which sucks for competitive games, but awesome for the single player experience.

[IcarusOne]

I never run the smooth effects. It increases lag and I'd rather maximize responsiveness.

[Convas]

Devs will go for 30fps to keep the eye candy on blast.

Ya'll already knew this.

[mediate-this]

So a gsme has to be 30fps to be eye candy? Computers run 4k and high frame rates. Whats your excuse for that?

[ABizzel1]

A computer running in 4k with high framerates isn't a $400 build.

You're looking at $300 - $400 alone on the GPU to play PS360 ports in 4k around 40fps - 60fps.

$600 - $800 on GPU for 4k @ 30fps - 40fps on average PC games.

And almost $3,000 on GPU to MAX every game on PC in 4k @ 60fps.

On top of that the average gaming PC has GPU performance ranging from is generally in line with the recommended specs. for modern games at the time, so no 4k isn't nearly as common as some want you to believe. If you have a high end GPU you can play games like Skyrim in 4k. But soon as you hit graphically demanding games like Crysis 3 you're right back down to 1080p

[Corpser]

^^ what does the cost have to do with how 4k with high frame rate looks?

[MysticStrummer]

"^^ what does the cost have to do with how 4k with high frame rate looks?"

^^ what does PC gaming have to do with a comment that was clearly about consoles?

[Rhezin]

UGH where is the PS store update!?

[Reverie990]

For this type of game, I think it was a wise choice. I also think Ubisoft should have done the same with Watch Dogs.

[dcj0524]

They already confirmed 1080p 30FPS for watch_dogs on PS4.

[MonstaTruk]

There's only ONE game on PS4 that's not 1080p (BF4), and I'm pretty confident they won't sh*t the bed on that later this year. If there's one thing that PS4 does, is pump out a native 1080p gaming picture for your HDTV...

[kalbo14]

i think its better at 30fps..coz with all those neon lights at 60fps can cause epilepsy.

[Christopher]

Even at 30fps, those can cause problems for people with epilepsy.

[Funky Town_TX]

I would rather have 1080p at 60, but this game will still be ace.

[N4GJD]

I'd take higher framerate over resolution any day!

framerate > resolution

[GarrusVakarian]

Agreed on the vast majority of games, but it's not always that simple. Sometimes (especially with consoles) compromises have to be made...and if you read the article, you would see that they would had to have sacrificed resolution, NPC's and particle effects to reach 60fps.

Do you think that compromise would have been worth it with this specific game? I personally don't. While 60fps is always *preferable* to 30fps if everything stays the same at both framerate settings, sometimes i would gladly accept 30fps with bells and whistles than 60fps with scaled down details/effects/NPC's.

I just hope they give us an option to lock it at 30fps, like Killzone SF did. I'm not a fan of fluctuating framerates unless it's near the 60's the majority of the time. If Infamous hovers in the 30's with occasional peaks up to 60, then i won't like that.

[Christopher]

I'd say that only with multiplayer game elements. Single player? 30fps is more than enough. You're only combating the AI, not other players. The need for that level of smoothness just isn't there.

Though, it is very nice having both. I need to upgrade my PC to stay ahead of the game. *turns out empty pockets* Dammit!

[bosoxs505]

I would agree, but Infamous is not a twitch shooter like Titanfall or BF.

[ziggurcat]

sure, but 60fps isn't required for all games.

i would actually rather 1080p with a *locked* 30fps over anything else for a game like infamous (or any 3rd person game).

and without going too off-topic here, having played both versions of tomb raider, 60fps is great for the gameplay sequences, but as soon as the cutscenes happen (at least the in-game ones), it's too jarring to the point that it actually looks (to me) like it's got that awful auto motion/smoothing "feature" applied even though my TV doesn't even have that functionality.

[Alex_Boro]

Already got my copy. Ordered from this seller on ebay and they send out copies early http://www.ebay.com/itm/BRA...

[PrinceOfAllSaiyans]

Lucky. I'll be getting mine after school since I ordered from Amazon. Hopefully its already arrived by the time I get home. Usually they do.

[solidpnk]

Woah! That's pretty awesome !
What edition is it? if I may ask.
How fast you received it?
I can't see where it says that he has it or any pictures. =(
I don't use ebay but, if it means getting a game few days early I'll jump into it lol

[Alex_Boro]

Ill reply to this thread thursday with pictures and ill do a livestream. Thats when tracking says it will come. I ordered it momday night

[Donjune]

Finished both previous games,but I'm really worried about this one..This is supposed to be a flagship title and Sony isn't marketing the correct way Imo! Seems like more focus is on The Order 1886! Hope it's a killer game because I already paid for it..

[Christopher]

I've seen some ads on Hulu. It's a live action one where Delsin does his smoke ground explosion ability in it.

[CrossingEden]

Because there's no way in hell that that this game could run at 1080p AND 60fps, Sucker Punch already admitted that t achieve 1080p and a smooth framerate they had to sacrifice dynamic lighting and day and night cycles.
http://www.dualshockers.com...
But in exchange we got reflective streets, a nice haze, and really good looking real time cutscenes, (only four of them are pre-rendered), which were more important to them in the first place, at least according to one of the developers I chatted with over twitter.
http://imgur.com/sdBpCWS
But let's be honest this is an open world superhero game, 30fps+ is fine but hope they include or at least patch in an option to lock the framerate.

[PersonMan]

So is the frame rate unlocked?

[No_Limit]

The simple answer is the PS4 doesn't have enough horsepower to run it at both 60fps and 1080p, so they choose 1080p and 30fps. Nothing wrong with that, as long as the game plays good.

[LOGICWINS]

Nothing wrong with that at all. Since the Witcher isn't coming out anytime soon, I guess I'll buy Second Son to keep me occupied. I feel like its the only AAA next gen release besides Titanfall that has a firm release date.

[Christopher]

Yeah, this generation is kinda sluggish in hitting its groove. TW3 delay was a big hit, but the end of this year should have a good number of releases. Lots of good things coming from smaller studios as well.

[-EvoAnubis-]

@cgoodno: Sluggish? Really? I've never seen a gaming generation that had so many high profile titles coming out in the first six months before this one.

[Christopher]

@-EvoAnubis-: First year of 360 was pretty impressive, actually.

And, we've really only seen ports from 360/PS3 so far, not quality IPs specific to each platform.

[-EvoAnubis-]

@cgoodno: I agree the first year of the 360 was pretty damned good. The initial first 4 months, not so much (as I recall its best game was Geometry Wars), which is exactly how far we are into this current console cycle.

My point is that it's a bit soon to call this generation sluggish when we're not even outside of the initial launch windows of either console yet. Let's wait until we're a year deep...or hell, at least the first six months.

[LOGICWINS]

@cgoodno- This was a big hit indeed. The Witcher 3 was and still is my most anticipated next-gen game. I'm not angry or anything, just a little shocked. I know it will be an incredible experience when it finally launches.

[Christopher]

Fine -EvoAnubis-... you've got two more months...

:P

[DeadMansHand]

Ugh. you had to remind me Witcher got pushed out. Man, I'm soooo bummed out about that.

[beatled]

so it doesn't have to be 800p

and because the ps4 isn't capable of 1080p and the level of gfx sucker punch chose at anything more than 30

[XboxFun]

Will this game get the same criticism from the folks here DmC got for also being 30fps?

doubt it. There should be no explination with all the devs and fanboys hyping how much more powerful this console claims to be.

[Hicken]

Did DmC have the same level of details, open-world nature, and particle effects?

[ziggurcat]

i've still failed to see the connection he tried to make in his comparison to (and correct me if i'm wrong) a more-or-less linear hack n' slash whose 4 previous iterations were at 60fps, and an open world, GTA-esque super hero game that has never been 60fps.

[Nine_Thousaaandd]

I'm happy with 1080p/30fps in a single player game. Sucker Punch has created a masterpiece, kudos to these guys for the hard work and time spent making Infamous for us.

Digital purchase for me, paid in full already...can't wait to play this game!

[parentsbasement]

I wish they would come out with a law "UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH" that the developers cant even say what the frame rate or resolution is...."here's our game , we think it plays great, try it for yourself".....

[Mrveryodd]

I don't own a PS4 , but this game looks awesome

[assdan]

Here's why. They wanted better visuals more than higher framerate. There's nothing complicated about it.

[mochachino]

I'm 100% for effects, physics, AI, lighting, etc. over this obsession with 1080p.

Ps3/360 could 1080p/60 fps but they didn't for reason. I draw the line at sub 720, 30 fps, and screen tearing.

[Purpleeyeblack]

This game is going to be amazing!!! Can't wait

[BOLO]

TBH...I wouldn't mind late PS3 game level visuals at 1080p 60fps. Nonetheless this game is going to be great as the first two were quite enjoyable.

[Azzanation]

So now Framerate doesn't matter? Remember when DR3 was announced at 30 frames?

Don't expect 1080p 60 FPS with next gen console games, it will never be the case. Developers can access heaps more power if they choose 30 frames or even 720p. Most good developers will choose 30 > 60 and in some cases 720p > 1080p

[troylazlow]

The real reason: Both systems are already are hitting performance issues. corners will continue to be cut. This will not effect gameplay, but don't expect 1080p 60fps on all games moving forward.

[Tzuno]

because it can't do 1080p and 60 fps due to high demanding graphics and the console doesn't have all that power.

[Father__Merrin]

Merrin would also add, Killzone multiplayer should also have been 30FPS as the recent patch to lock the single player is very smooth indeed

some games dont need it, games like infamous and gta style games etc are perfect at 30 locked

the problem is will infamous fluctuate over 30?

[GDDR6_2014]

Ps4 is just not running its most demanding games in 1080p 60 FPS

[Flames76]

The PS4 has trouble doing 60fps this is really becoming a problem with almost all PS4 games.Infamous really doesnt even look that good it looks ok but nothing that stands out right now.I cant believe that it cant do 60fps thats really just sad

[SliceOfTruth888]

If this was an XBOX game sony fanboys would be having a field day

[Lamigol10]

The game looks good visually .. I just got bored of first two games really quickly.
I'm guessing it'll be the same just better looking. I'll give it a blast on rent or demo 1st I think.

[Legacy212]

Sucker punch shouldnt need to explain why there game isnt 1080p 60fps. What has the world come to. The game looks great regardless if its 30 or 60fps

[lemoncake]

1080p is such a buzz word and the main focus of the ps4 at the moment that they rather tick that box than the fps one.

[MaxwellBuddha]

Wouldn't it be quicker to just say "it's not powerful enough?" LOL