Recently-released samurai sandbox Ghost of Tsushima originally featured loading times so quick that it was impossible to read loading screen tips. This happened specifically when players died. In response to this problem, developer Sucker Punch artificially lengthened the times slightly in order to allow players to read more on-screen hints before reviving, according to an interview with Kotaku. The loading times are still pretty zippy, but now you can read more than a word or two before you're launched back into the action.
How were the quick loading times in Ghost of Tsushima achieved?
Sucker Punch's lead engine programmer Adrian Bentley told Kotaku that Ghost of Tsushima's quick loading times were achieved via a number of programming feats. The art team managed to squeeze assets into "aggressive performance and memory budgets", reducing the size of certain textures and tiles. Bentley also says that Ghost of Tsushima puts data exactly where it should be with few disk reads, which is only possible on a console because there's no hardware or memory variance. In addition, Ghost of Tsushima's environments are designed to be "peaceful and meditative", according to Bentley, which means variety doesn't come from "unique baked data on every individual asset" as it would in a more busy urban game.
During development, Sucker Punch realized that loading times upon death were so quick that players couldn't read the standard loading screen tips. Bentley says the team decided to artificially lengthen the loading screens in order to let players read a little more. Kotaku says it's "still pretty hard" to catch a full tip, but that it's possible to read one or two before getting back into the game. Despite this achievement, Bentley still says there's room for improvement with the game's loading times. If you're interested, you can check out the full Kotaku interview right here; it's got some more technical details about how Sucker Punch achieved faster loading processes.
Ghost of Tsushima is available to buy right now for PlayStation 4.
Have you noticed the quick loading times in Ghost of Tsushima? Let us know in the comments below!
