Kholat, an exploration/adventure game with horror elements based on the infamous Dyatlov Pass incident and narrated by Sean Bean, is about to be released on PlayStation 4 next Tuesday.
The Unreal Engine 4 powered title originally launched on PC last year, with a fairly positive reception including 77% user recommendation on Steam. We have reached out to developer IMGN.PRO in order to learn more about this version of Kholat and the future plans for the IP. Enjoy our exclusive interview below!
- First of all, can we expect any differences and/or improvements in Kholat's PlayStation 4 version?
- Basically the PS4 version of Kholat is almost the same as its PC predecessor. We have managed to make the originally released game exactly as we imagined and planned. We didn’t want to alter the Kholat experience on the PS4 anyhow. Of course there are some minor changes, which are the result of the fact that console is a slightly different kind of beast than desktop PC, but they’re mostly technical.
- What was your experience while developing for PlayStation 4? Have you used the recently unlocked 7th core for additional performance?
- Developing Kholat for PlayStation 4 was a really interesting and challenging experience. Definitely the most troublesome aspect was memory usage. When we first got the game to run on the PS4 it crashed constantly due to the system running out of memory, so we decided to make modifications to Unreal's own memory management code. In the end, this and asset optimization got rid of every memory-related problems, but it proved to be a real challenge. The game enables the 7th core, so Unreal Engine indeed takes advantage of it to use more concurrent threads.
- Will the game run at 1080P@30 or 1080P@60FPS on PS4?
- The game will run at 1080P@30 –we’re very satisfied with this result, it enabled us to keep the eye candy, which owners of higher tier PC machines could enjoy while playing Kholat. The game runs smooth and still looks great.
- Why did you choose to bring the game on PlayStation 4 rather than Xbox One? Is there a chance to see the game on Microsoft's console in the future?
- We started with the Sony console mostly because of the larger user base, as well as the fact that we met great people from BlitWorks – they’re the team of real virtuosos when it comes to PS4 porting. We’re investigating the Xbox One option, but any decisions will be made after the initial feedback and results of our PS4 release.
- Have you experimented with VR support? Are you interested in making Kholat compatible with PSVR?
- We played a bit with the Oculus Rift during the development of Kholat, and the results were very entertaining. Although finally the VR support wasn’t implemented into the game due to many technical constraints. Anyway we’re aware of the rising hype for VR gaming, so we don’t say no for such update in the future.
- Do you intend to create more games in the Kholat IP, or at least in the same survival horror vein?
- Currently we can officially talk about one project that IMGN.PRO is working on: Seven – an isometric, 3D RPG. As you browse the internet to find information about it, you’ll find out that it’s a totally different kind of animal than Kholat, and it’s a much bigger project in general. We have many ideas of games in very different genres and settings, however it’s very likely that you will hear about some title which contains horror and survival elements still this year. Be sure to follow us on our social channels to stay up to date!
- Thanks for your time!
